Indiana senators approve state fair, education money
State senators allocated more state money for victims of the Indiana State Fair stage collapse and full-day kindergarten as part of a broad spending plan approved Wednesday.
State senators allocated more state money for victims of the Indiana State Fair stage collapse and full-day kindergarten as part of a broad spending plan approved Wednesday.
Budget leaders in the Indiana Legislature are nearing agreement on plans for phasing out the state's inheritance tax and changing the automatic taxpayer refund so that it could only be triggered every other year.
Parents across Indiana weary of paying sometimes-hefty fees for their children to attend full-day kindergarten classes could soon catch a break.
Indiana's public school districts wouldn't be able to end school bus service for their students under a proposal advancing in the General Assembly after protests from parents in a suburban Indianapolis district who now face annual bills of more than $400 a child for rides to and from school.
Indiana's state tax collections came in slightly below projections for January, the first monthly shortfall since the new state budget year began last July.
Indiana casinos saw their take from gambling fall in 2011, and new competition in Ohio and perhaps other neighboring states virtually guarantees things will get worse from here.
An Indiana Senate committee is advancing a plan to put more money into state savings accounts before automatic tax refunds go out to taxpayers.
Amazon.com will begin collecting Indiana's 7-percent sales tax from customers in 2014 under an agreement with the state announced Monday.
Gov. Mitch Daniels' top budget official is stepping down after being part of the Indiana governor's administration since he took office seven years ago.
Indiana's state tax collections continue to run well ahead of a year ago, with last month's revenue nearly 5 percent greater than in December 2010.
State Sen. Luke Kenley is floating the idea of using an online sales tax to help replace revenue that wouldn't be collected if a proposal to eliminate the state's inheritance tax becomes law.
Gov. Mitch Daniels will push for more money for victims of the Indiana State Fair stage collapse, but lawmakers will have to decide how much.
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels on Wednesday announced pay raises of up to 6 percent depending on state employees' performance. About 75 percent will see a 2 percent increase under the plan.
A state tax processing error resulting in $320 million more in the bank for the state and improved tax collections could put a nominal amount back in Hoosiers' purses and wallets next year. But a bi-partisan thirst to restore education funding and pay down state debts could just as easily take that refund away.
Democrat Erik Gonzalez of the state's budget-forecasting committee said his panel warned the Indiana Department of Revenue something was wrong with corporate tax collections two years before the state discovered it misplaced $320 million.
Republican members of the State Budget Committee have rejected Democrats' request for an independent audit of the Indiana Department of Revenue for misplacing $320 million.
Indiana House and Senate Democrats say they want an investigation into how the money went missing for so long. They submitted a letter to the state's budget forecasting committee requesting an independent audit of the state's finances.
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels says the state budget will see a one-time cash infusion of $300 million from tax collections that weren't properly transferred into the general fund.
Indiana's budget picture continued improving last month as the state collected $31 million more in taxes than planned.
The state said Tuesday it took in $12.3 million more in taxes than expected last month and that income and sales tax collections continued to improve through the end of August. However, gambling taxes from riverboat casinos came in $5.2 million less than expected.